Chinatown
Receives $750,000 To Improve Tourism And ParkingFrom The World Journal
March 25, 2003

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez announced that the Congress is giving
the Chinese Consolidated Benevolence Association (CCBC) a $750,000
grant to work with community groups and experts to improve tourism
and parking in the area.

Community groups applauded the decision, saying the money arrived
just in time. They hope to work together to come up with a solution
to Chinatowns longstanding problem with traffic.
According to Velazquez, the money came from congress but will be
administered by the New York State Department of Transportation.

Velazquez, who represents Chinatown and Lower Manhattan, said Chinatown
has suffered tremendously after the 9/11 attacks. She added that
the notorious traffic is one of the biggest problems in rebuilding
Chinatowns economy, and it has gotten worse since the police
headquarters blocked Chinatowns back door by closing Park
Row for security reasons.

One of the two main purposes for the grant is to revitalize Chinatowns
tourism and create more jobs by taking advantage of currently available
resources. The second is to find an appropriate location to build
a parking lot, said Velazquez.

Ting Din Ng, president of the CCBC, agreed with Velazquez, saying
traffic has long been a problem for Chinatown, and is now posing
as a major obstacle in restoring Chinatowns prosperity. He
said that CCBC will make the most of the grant to gather ideas from
the community and hire transportation experts to find the best way
to improve Chinatowns traffic.

Guanjun Liang, chairman of the Federation of Chinese Organizations
in New York, said in addition to parking, Chinatowns sanitary
issue also needs to be addressed, particularly in the East Broadway
area. Eric Ng, president of Hoy Sun Nig Yung Benevolence Association
and a longtime businessman in Chinatown, said Chinatown is the center
of the Chinese community in the New York metropolitan area and it
is difficult to plan for the future without solving basic issues
like traffic.

Margaret Chin, deputy executive director of Asian Americans for
Equality, is glad that the grant will go directly to the community.
She said that only the community understands its own problems and
she hopes that the residents can work out the best solutions together.

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